Furnace



April 15, 19"1-V s. KICHLINE 2,238,526

l FURNCE Filed March 3, 1959 Imllllmlllll'lllm lllllllllj IN V EN TOR.

A TT ORNE YS.

Patented Apr. 15, 1941 FURNAOE Stewart Iichline, Allentown, Pa. Application March 3, 1939, Serial No. 259,695

(Cl. ML2- 20) f 1 Claim.

This invention relates to furnaces of the coal burning type, whether they be used for commercial purposes or lfor the production of steam, hot Water or hot air for domestic Purposes.

Itl is well known to those skilled in the art that when a supply of fresh fuel is placed in a furnace 'it has been necessary to leave a portion of the ignited fuel exposed in order to insure immediate consumption of gas generated by the heating of the fresh fuel. This procedure has limited the amount of fresh fuel that might be placed in a fire-box at one time because, should the hot bed of fuel be completely covered the gases generated frequently accumulate above the level of the fuel and subsequently explode with disastrous results.

An object of -the present invention is to provide the fire-box of a furnace with a duct adapted to extend from a point close to the ignited fuel to a point above the level of any fresh fuel that might be supplied to the furnace so that this duct will act, in effect, as a torch through which upwardly circulating air will carry hot products of combustion so that gas generated by the heating of the fresh fuel will be immediately ignited before it can have an opportunity to accumulate land therefore explode.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which can be maintained cool under working conditions, thereby to withstand the intense heat to which it is subjected.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character which can be built into a furnace as a part thereof or can be installed as a supplemental part, it b-eing possible, under either of these conditions, to circulate water within the walls thereof for maintaining a cooling or 10W temperature.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, the

i invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawing Figure l is a vertical section through a portion i:

of a furnace equipped with an integral watercooled gas duct such as constitutes the present Figure 3 is a vertical section through a portion kcommunication with the water jacket.

of a furnace equipped with a water-cooled gas duct in the form of an attachment.

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section through lthe attachment taken on the line 4-4, Figure 3,

a nozzle being shown'as a supplemental feature. In Figure 1 of the drawing there has been shown a portion of a water heater such as used for hot'waterheating systems, the fire-box I being shown surrounded by a water jacket 2 through which opens the usual fuel door 3. The grate for supporting the fuel has been indicated at 4 and,

in the structure illustrated, there is provided above the grate and close to but below the door 3 a hollow extension 5 which overhangs but is well spaced from the` grate and is in constant This extension, which is closed at the top and bottom, has an upwardly tapered flue 6 opening through thetop and bottom thereof and preferably. made integral with the extension; This flue constitutes, in effect, a water-cooled torch the lower end of which is so positioned that hot products of combustion generated by the burning fuel supported on grate 4 will be free to sweep upwardly through the torch and be delivered above the level of the unburned fuel. In Figure 1 the ignited fuel has been indicated at A while the unburned fuel which completely covers the ignited fuel and can be of considerable thickness has been indicated at B. This unburned fuel is adapted to be so placed in the furnace as to leave the upper end of the extension 5 exposed. However the unburned fuel can be piled to a considerable depth so that it is thus possible to operate the furnace as a gravity feed furnace and to maintain a fire for many hours after a substantial supply of fue] has been placed in the furnace.

As soon as the new supply of fuel is placed in the furnace and completely covers the ignited coals, gas is generated and flows upwardly into the space above the fuel. Ordinarily, should the burning coals be completely covered, the generated gas would accumulate above the fuel until ultimately ignition and explosion would result. By providing a device such as herein described, however, the air, under either natural or forced draft, circulating upwardly through the grate 4 and through the fuel, will follow the course of j least resistance and as this course is through the flue 6, the air tends to sweep upwardly through the flue some of the hot gases and these, in turn, will be delivered above the level of the unburned fuel where they will immediately ignite any generated gases, thereby preventing their accumulation and avoiding damage by explosion which height.

tachment has been illustrated in Figures 3 and otherwise might occur. Ordinarily a large vent is required to permit these generated gases to escape. Due to immediate ignition a much smaller vent is required in the present case, thereby retaining the heat that under ordinary conditions would pass out into space. In this connection attention is called to 4damper I2 in Figure 1 which can be left closed as indicated.

In the structure illustrated in Figure l the water-cooled torch has been illustrated as an integral part of the inner wall of the lire-box, the water of the hot Water system being utilized for cooling the torch so that it will not break down under the intense temperatures to which it is subjected. It is to be understood, however, that if preferred the torch can be in the form of an attachment adapted to be supported in any suitable manner anywhere within the furnace adjacent to or on either or both sides of the fuel door either below it, or at any other desired One form of the device used as an at- 4. In these figures -it will be noted that the at tachment is in the form of a casing 'I having an integral ue 8 extending therethrough from top to bottom and providing a water jacket 9 for cooling purposes. Pipes I0 and Il open into the lower and upper portions of the water jacket and canbe used not only to support the attachment in the ire-bOxbut also to connect it to a domestic boiler so that the attachment thus serves not only as a -torch having the advantages already `pointed out but-also as a water-back, or as a hot water circulation booster. y

In the form shown in Figure 3 a nozzle I3 is removably mounted and is spaced from the top of the casing 1. Thus when hot products of ,combustion ow upwardly through the flue 8 they will mix, .at the base of nozzle I3, with air suppliedthereto from above the fuel and the `mixture will be delivered upwardly through the nozzle I3 so as to ignite generated gases above the level of the adjacent bed of unburned fuel. It is to be understood of course that this removable nozzle can be used also in connection with the integral form of torch illustrated in Figure 1, or can be eliminated entirely if conditions warrant.

Obviously various modcations of the device can be made within the scope of the claim, it being essential that said device be supported well above the grate but with its lower end in close proximity with the burning fuel While its upper end is located Where it is exposed above the level of unburned fuel. It is essential that a cooling medium be used to prevent injury to the torch as a result of the intense heat to which it is subjected.

It is to be understood of course that this device can. be of any shape or size and that any desired number of them can be used as necessary to meet the requirements. Furthermore, if desired, the nozzle shown in Figures 3 and 4 could be utilized as a iiame diffuser to spread the ame over the unburned fuel so that it will be in constant contact with the gases as they flow upwardly` from the fuel.

Vlfhat is claimed is:

A torch for installation below and back of the fuel door of a furnace fire-box, comprising a ue openat its upper and lower ends only, a water jacket extending around and carried by the flue, said jacket having an inlet and an outlet, pipes leading to the inlet and outlet for supporting the flue above the level of a grate in the nre-box, and llame diffusing means extending from and overlying the upper open end of the iiue. f

STEWART KICHLINE. 

